I've had the chance to attend BMW X3 presentation and get a test-drive a week later here in Riga, Latvia.

The presentation was organized by Wess Select, the better of the two BMW dealers in Latvia, and it was all posh and flashy. The car itself was somehow delivered onto the roof of an art gallery. No wonder we were surprised at first, when we arrived at the presentation — there was no sign of the car around.

After some introduction from key people in Wess Select, we were invited to go upstairs and see the car for the first time in Latvia. Since it was rather cold, Wess Select presented each attendee with personal plaid, which was a nice touch. The preentation itself lasted for about 2 minutes, as they announced it, lit some fireworks and unveiled what was under wraps.

The car on display was BMW X3 2.0d in Alpine White. I got to say it looks stunning in that color and I do prefer it over other ones. We were all allowed to check the car inside-out, it's been a decent optioned one, so there were a lot of gizmos to play with. I decided not to waste time in vain and applied for a test-drive on the following week.

The car I've been given to drive was 35i with nearly all options ticked. I'm really interested in getting myself a 30d, I've been told that production will start in April meaning that first cars will roll out some time around June/July.

Moving on to the car itself. I'm not a professional reporter, never intended to be one. But I've recorded a a short video showcasing the interior and some of my thoughts on this car (in Russian).

Overall I like it more than BMW X5 (E70), since it's more compact and driver oriented. 35i engine was superb, although it lacked some dynamics which my 135i (same engine) has. It somehow behaved more like 4.8i found in the X5 (E70), when you push the throttle there's a slight delay and then you feel all the power that the car has to offer. Could it be due to N55 single turbo or I'm just not used to driving 4x4 SUVs, I don't know for sure.

The 8-speed automatic transmission was smooth and sweet. Gear shifts seemed seamless. I've tried using paddle gear shifts, it's been quite fun, but it's not like an SUV really needs those, especially when you have 8 speeds to click through. They did change the paddles themselves (compared to my 135i), from now on the left one is used only for down-shifting and the right one's for going up. I kind of noticed that my fingers were a bit short to reach for those due to different steering wheel. Sport mode was great as well, it sharpens the steering, suspension and accelerator pedal. Normal mode was softer than I expected from BMW, even though the car had 19" rims. I've tried doing some elements of active driving and since I'm used to my 135i, the car felt too "tall" if you know what I mean, I've never lost confidence in it, but it still felt a bit too big, way smaller than X5 though.

Top view camera was brilliant, I was very impressed by this tech, which I know is not anything of a breakthrough, but I'm still ticking that one in the options list. We did some basic offroading, which was not staged or anything. I imagined myself going to my country house, which I've had troubles reaching in winter with my 135i and I'd say that X3 will do the job just fine. There was never a time when the DSC/DTC would switch on, which I guess is a good sign.

The interior is great, I love the new dash, it's really great. The iDrive got some minor refinement (there was a news about the updates somewhere here on bimmerpost). There was enough space for me as a driver, for the passenger and the rear seats are all good to carry 3 people over there.

Here are some photos of BMW X3 near my 135i, it's been a dirty week here in Riga due to snow and all that, so sorry, no shiny things:

Thanks for the post, I like the video, am planning to order an x3 30d with an Mpackage in space gray. Now that i saw the video I will most probably opt for the top view and pdc which are unfortunately separate options.